Phoria — Volition (3rd June, 2016)Location: Brighton, UKGenre: Indie Pop, Electronic, Ambient♣ Chcela by som vám predstaviť hudobnú lahôdku od zoskupenia, ktoré si hovorí Phoria. Táto 5–členná skupinka pochádza z južného pobrežia Anglicka, konkrétne z mesta Brighton. Nejedná sa o žiadnu prvotinu, či výplod v nejakej amatérskej skúšobni. Kompilácia nesie názov Emanate. Myslím si, že samotný obsah a výsledok predčil titul songu. Skladba je z nadchádzajúceho EP Display.♣ Zvuková skladba piesne sa nesie v luxusnej elegancii. Kultivované na polnočné zamyslenie, minimalistické a zároveň fascinujúce. Začiatok je natoľko pokojný, až vás unesie do totálnej harmónie priestranných éterických vibrácií. Z počiatočného tempa tejto trate každý tlkot zachytí viacej energie a zväčší intenzitu do svojho unikátneho orchestrálneho vzorca. Zdráhavé slabé vrenie ich nakoniec zatieni nepreberným množstvom zvukov, ktoré sú rafinované a usporiadané v riadenom chaose. Cyklické potlesky a zamatové vokály vás pomaličky ponoria do nahrávky skladby, ako predohry akéhosi rozjímania, zatiaľ čo finále je ponorené do nadpozemskej produkcie basov a synťákov.♣ Nemôžem dostatočne vyjadriť, čo sa vytvorilo. Jedná sa o delikátnu atmosféru vyleštenú k dverám dokonalosti. Ich organická prirodzenosť a infekčnosť zvuku sa stala základom pre ich podprahovú tvorbu. Jediné čo viem, je, že sa tu miešajú prvky zvukov do vyvrcholenia, ktoré napokon dosiahne duchovnú hĺbku. Človek má až chuť ospevovať celý život.♣ Varovanie je však na mieste — nemusíte opäť dopadnúť na zem. [Autor: Nikola Navrátilová; http://i-klik.cz/] Album release: 3rd June, 2016Record Label: X Novo Records / Humming RecordsDuration: 49:52Tracks:01. Melatonin 4:3802. Red 5:4803. Everything Beta 4:2904. Mass 4:1805. By the Salt 0:3906. Loss 6:3507. Evolve 5:1408. Undone 4:0409. Emanate 4:2710. Saving Us a Riot 4:1811. Yourself Still 5:22℗ 2016 X Novo RecordsPersonnel:♣ Trewin Howard electronics and composition♣ Seryn Burden drummer ♣ Tim Douglas bass/synth player♣ Jeb Hardwick guitarist ♣ Ed Sanderson piano/synth playerAbout:• A voice appears out of a sound: a golden shape, a texture, a mixture of sunlight and sculpture. Music as spectral as this makes you lose yourself in the right way; deep in sound and light. Imagine the music of Sigur Ros, or James Blake, or Aphex Twin, but travelling somewhere else instead. As you do, pay attention as your eyes and ears adjust: open up, come alive. Over the past few years, Phoria have become known for their colourful, visually evocative soundscapes with the release of two EP’s: 2013’s ‘Bloodworks’ and 2014’s ‘Display’. Top 5’s on Hype Machine, support from BBC Radio 1 and 6 Music followed — along with millions of Spotify streams. Now, they’re proud to announce their highly anticipated debut album ‘Volition’.• Phoria are headed up by the master of electronics and composition Trewin Howard, a deeply sensitive character in tune with his surroundings, empowered with synaesthesia and once afflicted with a mysterious — still undiagnosed — illness that left his senses frayed and mind on edge. Ironically, when this illness ebbed, it left behind an even more heightened auditory perception. He is joined by two friends he has known all his life (guitarist Jeb Hardwick, piano/synth player Ed Sanderson) and two others (drummer Seryn Burden and bass/synth player Tim Douglas), who he feels he has known forever. Phoria start to make sense with this strong backbone and incredible bond in place. At one point, they stopped trying to be a conventional band and started to be something else; they decided to be applied technicians in a self–created sonic laboratory named Phoria. • The new album ‘Volition’ is bursting with vibrant sounds throughout, from opener ‘Melatonin’s electronic washes to ‘Emanate’s organic clicks and claps, to the epic string section finale on ‘Yourself Still’, which brings a colourful parade to end the record. • Phoria’s songs aren’t what you’d call conventional. Trewin never wanted to be a storyteller — he says he subscribes to the model of saying very little to say a lot. ‘Red’ is inspired by a conversation Trewin had with someone about lying to people, while ‘Evolve’ is a mash–up of ideas about evolution and the future of society. The other songs on ‘Volition’ take in various themes in the form of: love, art, science, the way people touch and change and move each other, sex, mortality, scale, insignificance, morality, pain, joy, fear, obscurity, the surreal, the absurd, and beauty. The lyrics usually come out in one recording, altogether, and they feel whole, multi–dimensional, and real. • Phoria are a full multi–sensory experience in every way. Jeb does installations and interactive projections for the group’s live set. How strange it is that this group were called Phoria before Trewin’s world was recast and reshaped — focusing on the importance of the senses, and how they can travel in different directions, in the first place. Phoria have always had a heart and pulse and soul behind them, and long may it shine: an epic core of friendship played out, played loud, deep in sound and light. ReviewBy Sean Ward, 17 Jun, 2016 / Score: 8.5Ξ There is a cohesion in sound and vision with each element working in blissful accord.Ξ Alternative five piece Phoria have released their much anticipated debut album Volition. An eleven song suite that simultaneously reflects on the band’s beginnings and process while laying the foundation for future sounds. We open on a 2015 single (“Melatonin”) and a 2014 EP cut (“Red”). The first is a stirring soundscape that has the celestial properties of The War On Drugs with the electronic momentum of Jon Hopkins and M83 sauntering between rumbling artificial tones and gentler, organic guitar notes. “Red” brings sense to the Sigur Rós comparisons as Trewin Howard’s vocal melds harmoniously with every elemental layer of this expansive track. The warm piano keys, artificial voiceover, and luxuriously composed strings balance each other spectacularly and create an altogether engaging six minutes of music.Ξ For those fans who have been patiently awaiting this record there is new and original music here presented in a suite of sorts as “Mass” and “Loss” bookend a glorious vocal interlude “By The Salt” offering ethereal interruption from the artificially enhanced. The first part of this trilogy is a looped R&B~tinged number that evokes thoughts of James Blake’s eponymous debut. We are lead along its electronic backbone to a poignant crescendo of synth, piano, and vocal layering. “Loss” is dramatic, expansive and altogether gorgeous likened to an arctic landscape, impossibly big yet moving at a pace best described as glacial. A symphonic arrangement that would have found a home on Vulnicura gives way courteously to an Aphex Twin “Windowlicker” breakdown before the string led emotion stirs again and lifts us to dizzying new heights, stood atop the same frozen field looking across the fjords in complete awe.Ξ 2016 single “Evolve” anchors the album nicely with pop sensibilities and a Metronomy flavour demonstrating the abilities of this band and their progression as a unit complete with sophisticated flourishes of recorded dialogue and an off centre guitar hook. Their breakout single of sorts, “Emanate”, sounds just as curiously brooding as when we first heard it in 2014, immediately captivated by the sparseness of the production, the introspective delivery, and the refined approach to the genre. The reclusive first three minutes enhance its momentous outro even more so.Ξ The pace and style of Volition matches the expectation of its creation; each track has been well considered and older cuts have been carefully selected in order to enhance the LP as an entity of work. Howard’s vocal has the breathy qualities of Benjamin Francis Leftwich and Elena Tonra making this gigantic album feel effortlessly intimate. New tracks “Yourself Still” and “Loss” demonstrate a band constantly challenging themselves, the former marking a triumphant career apogee. The connections and shared experiences of the band members feed into its design and creation, there is a cohesion in sound and vision with each element working in blissful accord.Ξ https://www.thefourohfive.com/Website: http://www.phoriamusic.com/Twitter: https://twitter.com/phoriaSoundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/phoriamusicFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/phoriamusic•••••___________________________________________________•••••